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Weekly Deals and Funds Roundup: 3 September 200803/09/2008. Source: AltAssets. 
 A selection of the latest deals and funds news from across the globe - essential reading for those who need to keep up-to-date with the industry's key developments.
RadioFrame Networks, a leading provider of radio access solutions, has raised $28m in a Series F round of equity and debt financing led by existing backers including Ericsson Venture, Ignition Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners and new entrant, Plainfield Asset Management. Other investors include COM Investments (the personal investment arm of wireless pioneer Craig McCaw), Samsung and Innovacom (formerly Orange Ventures). Including this round, RadioFrame has raised a total of $100m since 2001. The new funds raised will be used to fund operations targeting rapidly growing market opportunities.
Lausanne, Switzerland-based DEFI Gestion has acquired Plumettaz, a maker of machinery and equipment for underground laying of energy and telecom cable. Financial terms were not disclosed. The investment was made from DEFI EuroCap III, its buy-out fund launched in 2006. Plumettaz's founders, Gérard and Denis Plumettaz, will remain in the group as minority shareholders. Jouni Heinonen, as a new shareholder and CEO, will gradually take the operational tasks of Gérard Plumettaz. DEFI Gestion has approximately CHF200m under management.
Investment firm Columbia Pacific has raised $135m in a second round of financing for its Asian hospital construction fund, Columbia Asia, bringing the total raised to $325m. According to Columbia Pacific, when Columbia Asia is completed, it will have 21 hospitals and a clinic in India, 11 hospitals in Malaysia , three hospitals in Vietnam and three hospitals in Indonesia. Columbia Pacific manages two investment funds, the $300m Columbia Asia fund and the $200m Columbia Pacific Opportunity Fund.
Venture capital firm Nordic Venture Partners has invested several million euros in NYX Interactive, a developer of online technology. The funds will be used for international expansion. Nordic Venture manages €335m and has offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki .
Sweden-based investment company Bure Equity has sold Textilia, a textile services company, for SEK201m to a company owned by Litorina, a Swedish private equity firm. Litorina will make additional payments to Bure based on the future performance of Textilia, according to a statement. Bure Equity focuses on long-term investments in unlisted companies, primarily within the service sector. Litorina focuses on acquiring and developing small to medium-sized companies, primarily based in Sweden.
Oxford-based venture capital firm Oxford Capital has sold human resources software company Infobasis to US-listed software provider Salary.com for $5m. Following the transaction, InfoBasis will become the principal European operation of Salary.com. Oxford Capital invested in Infobasis in 2004. Oxford Capital focuses on emerging science and technology and has a portfolio of approximately around 30 companies. This year it launched its fifth Oxford Gateway Enterprise Investment Scheme Fund and aims to raise between £15m and £20m for the new vehicle.
AVA Solar, a Colorado-based photovoltaic module manufacturer, has raised $104m in a second equity round led by California-based venture capital firm DCM. New investors include Technology Partners, GLG Partners and Bohemian Companies. Returning investors include Invus. The funds will be used to complete AVA Solar's first production facility in Longmont, Colorado, which will have the capacity to produce 200 MW of PV modules annually.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has acquired two pipeline systems from Knight, the private entity which owns the general partner of Kinder Morgan, for $116m. The purchase includes Knight's one-third interest in the Express-Platte crude oil pipeline systems that run from Alberta to Illinois and a jet fuel pipeline that serves the Vancouver, British Columbia, airport. Kinder Morgan owns an interest in or operates more than 25,000 miles of pipelines and 165 terminals. Its pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, CO2 and other products, and its terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and handle bulk materials like coal and petroleum coke.
Baring Private Equity Asia has purchased a significant stake in Indian architectural firm RSP Design Consultants. The RSP investment marks Baring Private Equity Asia's second investment in the construction and infrastructure services sector in India. RSP India will use the capital to expand into new geographies and enter new services lines. RSP India has more than 350 employees servicing international and local companies in the areas of planning and feasibility studies, architecture, interior design, master planning and urban design, landscape design and electro - mechanical engineering. Baring Private Equity Asia has approximately $2.5bn under management.
Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital has acquired 50 per cent of Turkish luxury-yacht manufacturer Numarine. Financial terms were not disclosed. The investment is Abraaj's second in Turkey and third in the marine business. Last year, it bought part of Acibadem, the only healthcare provider listed on the Istanbul exchange. Abraaj also owns stakes in Dubai-based luxury-yacht distributor ART Marine, and Gulf Marine Maintenance & Offshore Company, which primarily serves the oil and gas industry.
UK private equity firm August Equity has backed the £37m MBO of Accura Support Services, a provider of components to the oil and gas and aerospace sectors. Peter Andrews, former chairman, and Barclays Ventures, who acquired the business in 2005, will exit the business in full. August Equity has introduced Simon Armstrong as non-executive chairman. August Equity has approximately £285m under management.
3i has sold its minority stake in Belgium-based Electrawinds, a renewable energy company, to the majority shareholders for an undisclosed amount, following an earlier-than-anticipated achievement of key milestones by Electrawinds. 3i originally invested €30m in Electrawinds in 2006. Besides projects in Belgium, Electrawinds also operates wind farms in Italy, France and a number of other European projects. Over the past three years, employee numbers have grown from three to 135. In early 2008, two financial groups, Gemeeentelijke Holding and Dexia Gimv Infra invested €20m into Electrawinds.
US private equity firm Watermill Ventures has sold distributor of industrial fasteners Vertex, to DXP Enterprises, a distributor of maintenance, repair and operating and services to industrial customers. Financial terms were not disclosed. Watermill acquired Massachusetts-based Vertex in 2005.
conject, a Munich-based software house, has raised €5m in a financing round led by Seventure Partners with participation from existing investor Earlybird. This brings the company's total amount funds raised to over €20m. conject is a provider of management software for the real estate and construction industries. France-based Seventure Partners invests in European start-ups and is a subsidiary of Natixis Private Equity, which manages more than €3.7bn.
São Paulo, Brazil-based Spring Wireless has raised $66m in an investment round led by Goldman Sachs and New Enterprise Associates, with participation from existing investors Ideiasnet and Darby Technology Ventures. Spring Wireless is a provider of corporate mobile solutions. Spring Wireless also acquired Okto, a Latin American mobile applications company for an undisclosed sum. New Enterprise Associates has approximately $8.5bn in committed capital.
Linden, a Chicago-based private GP that focuses on the healthcare and life sciences sector, has acquired MedSystems, a maker of enteral devices and surgical protection products, from Cardinal Health, an Ohio-based provider of health care products and services. Financial terms were not disclosed. MedSystems has been renamed Corpak MedSystems by Linden. Thomas I Kuhn, a Linden executive in residence, has been appointed CEO of Corpak MedSystems.
Dutch mid-market buy-out firm Egeria has agreed to sell Royal van Lent, a maker of luxury yachts to the French leader in luxury goods, LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton. Financial terms were not disclosed. Feadship is the brand name under which Royal van Lent designs, builds and delivers its mega yachts. The Works Council of Royal van Lent has been asked to render advice in relation to the intended transaction. The relevant trade unions have also been informed. The intended transaction will be subject to the clearance by the relevant competition authorities.
Emerging markets-focused private equity firm Aureos Capital has acquired a 30 per cent stake in Pacific Retail, a retailer in Tonga. Financial terms were not disclosed. The investment was made from Aureos's Kula Fund II, a $16m private equity fund established in 2006. Pacific Retail's three main divisions are office equipment and printing supplies, hardware and construction products and duty free stores. The company was recently announced to be the successful bidder for the Government of Tonga's duty free retail interests, the first privatisation project in Tonga. Kula Fund II has invested $6.67m to date, with two investments in Papua New Guine and one investment in each of Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga.
The Infinity I-China Fund and China Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Ventures have led a $73m investment round in Digital China Information Technology Service (DCITS), a provider of IT services in China. DCITS has $4.5bn in revenues and has become the largest company in which the Infinity I-China Fund has invested in. Israel-based Infinity manages approximately $600m and a portfolio of 45 companies. The Infinity I-China Fund, the newest Infinity fund, is the largest fund that focuses on Israeli-Chinese related opportunities.
US private equity firm Summer Street Capital Partners has acquired Willcare, a regional home healthcare company. Financial terms were not disclosed. Willcare has more than 1,500 employees providing nursing, therapeutic, paraprofessional and case management services to about 4,500 patients in Upstate New York, the Hudson Valley region of New York and Northeast Ohio. Summer Street has approximately $300m under management and typically makes investments in the range of $5m to $30m in companies with annual
revenues of $20m to $100m.
The Riverside Company has acquired HEALTHCAREfirst, a provider of software solutions to small businesses in the medicare home health and hospice markets in the US. The investment was from Riverside's Micro-Cap Fund, which focuses on companies with $5m or less in EBITDA. HEALTHCAREfirst is the third addition to the Micro-Cap Fund in the last two months and is the 28th healthcare investment by Riverside.
UK-based Quotient Bioscience Group, a provider of safety services for bioscience and sport, has raised approximately £35m from US private equity firm TA Associates. The proceeds will be used to fund Quotient's acquisition-led and organic growth strategy. Quotient has identified and is in discussions with a number of acquisition candidates with a view to strengthening its growing market position in Europe and North America. Prior to the investment by TA Associates, the principal investors in Quotient were Paul Cowan, Helical Bar and Dencora Investments. Management and employees of Quotient are also shareholders. TA Associates manages approximately $12bn and has invested in more than 380 companies.
New York-based private equity firm Monomoy Capital Partners has acquired the Katun Corporation, a supplier of photoreceptors and parts to the imaging industry. Financial terms were not disclosed. Katun employs more than 600 individuals. Carlyle Singer will continue to serve as president and CEO of Katun. Monomoy manages $280m and focuses on making controlling investments in mid-market companies.
Baltic private equity investor BaltCap Management has acquired a 75 per cent stake in the largest private medical diagnostics company in Estonia, Quattromed HTI Laborid OÜ. The sellers are Estonian private individuals and Finnish biotechnology company FIT Biotech OY. Financial terms were not disclosed. Quattromed operates in the medical services sector serving Estonia's general practitioners, private clinics as well as regional and local hospitals. The company's turnover in 2007 was approximately 50m EEK and it has 60 employees.
Melbourne-based mid-market private equity group Advent Private Capital has acquired a 48 per cent stake in Australian film wrap manufacturer, Integrated Packaging Group for $29.7m. Integrated Packaging is a privately owned business that manufactures and distributes stretch film wrap for industrial and agricultural applications in Australia and New Zealand. It also manufactures and distributes a full range of pallet wrapping machines. Advent manages A$450m and invests in mid-market private companies, with enterprise values of between $50m and $200m.
UK-based private equity and venture capital firm Summit Partners has invested in Telerik, a Bulgaria-based software vendor. Financial terms were not disclosed. Telerik offers a portfolio of products which can be used to build web and desktop applications that are run using the latest Microsoft technologies. Founded in 1984, Summit has raised more than $11bn in capital and has provided equity, recapitalisation, and MBO financing to more than 300 growing companies across a range of industries.
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